Apr
9
Lending Money on Prosper: My Results
April 9, 2008 | 10 Comments
This is the 4th post in a series of articles about Prosper.com. Prosper is a person to person lending site with an auction format similar to EBay. I’ve been lending money on Prosper for awhile. In this article I’ll write about my results. In my previous articles, I’ve discussed how Prosper.com works and the risks [...]
Apr
8
Lending Money on Prosper: What Are the Risks?
April 8, 2008 | 2 Comments
This is the 3rd post in a series of articles about Prosper.com. Prosper is a person to person lending site with an auction format similar to EBay. If you’re a lender you may want to consider the risks of lending money on Prosper before you start loaning money. In my previous article on Prosper, I [...]
Apr
7
What is Prosper and How Does it Work?
April 7, 2008 | 4 Comments
What is Prosper and how does it work? Prosper.com is a website for personal loans that allows borrowers and lenders to find each other in an Ebay style auction. I've been a member of Prosper for over a year. In this article I'll tell you how Prosper works. In a previous article about person to [...]
Apr
3
Peer to Peer Lending with Prosper Et Al.
April 3, 2008 | 4 Comments
Maybe you’ve heard of peer to peer (p2p) lending. It’s also known as social lending or person to person lending. What is it and how does it work? I have some experience in this area so read on to find out what p2p lending is all about. Borrowers Consumer loans are big business. According to [...]
Mar
27
Consumerist Covers Jim Cramer's Latest Controversy
March 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Jim Cramer continues to get bad publicity over his Bear Sterns comments. I covered his comments on Bear Sterns in a previous article. It seems however that this one just won’t go away. The consumerist.com covered the ramifications of Cramer’s goof. It’s given a lot of his enemies some pretty good ammunition. Fox Business News [...]
Mar
20
Searching For an Investment Mentor
March 20, 2008 | 1 Comment
Do you have an investment mentor? In many areas of life, mentorship plays an important role in our education. Investing should be no different. However, how do you go about finding an investment mentor? What are the qualities you look for in a mentor? According to Wikipedia, a mentor is “a trusted friend, counselor or [...]
Mar
19
What is Your Investment Philosophy?
March 19, 2008 | 2 Comments
I’ve come to believe the most important investment decision you can make is deciding upon an investment philosophy. I call it a philosophy but it could also be called an investment style, an investing strategy or even and investment system. All of these terms are rather hard to define. Some have clear meanings. Let’s elaborate [...]
Mar
18
Jim Cramer on Bear Sterns
March 18, 2008 | 1 Comment
For those of you still watching Mad Money for anything other than pure entertainment value, I need to have a word with you. Jim Cramer isn't you financial adviser. I can't believe how many people I talk to watch this show religiously, for investment advice. Jim Cramer has been in the news quite often over [...]
Mar
17
What is a Hedge Fund?
March 17, 2008 | 1 Comment
Hedge funds are getting a lot of press these days. It seems that hedge funds are in the news every day and not for good reasons. In the current financial downturn, hedge funds are collapsing left and right. If you’re like a good portion of the general public you have no idea what a hedge [...]
Mar
12
Financial Derivatives Still Considered Harmful
March 12, 2008 | 1 Comment
In the five years since Warren Buffet’s warning about long term financial derivatives contracts the volume of such derivatives has increase five times from $100 trillion to $516 trillion. This according to BIS via Paul B. Farrell of CBS Marketwatch.com, implies “a massive new derivatives bubble is driving the domestic and global economies, a bubble [...]